Connector



D. R. WILDER CONNECTOR Filed June 28, 1966 NVEN'ZR WMWW fifi W I '11: I I III I United States Patent O 3,404,425 CONNECTOR Dallas Richard Wilder, 6731 N. Ionia, Chicago, Ill. 60646 Filed June 28, 1966, Ser. No. 561,153 9 Claims. (Cl. 16-30) This invention relates to a connector for holding two members in a predetermined spatial relation, relative to each other, and more particularly to such a connector as is adapted to permit ready separation of the two members.

Such connectors find effective usage in any application in which several heavy and/or bulky articles are occasionally moved from place to place, and are disassembled and reassembled at each location. The movement of the articles is facilitated by their separation, so that smaller, and lighter, parts of the whole assembly may be moved individually.

One such application is in the combination amplifierloudspeaker units commonly used by musicians, and especially electric guitarists. The loudspeaker units, and the amplifiers, are customarily large and heavy and are best moved separately from place to place. In a given location, however, it is convenient to place the amplifier on top of the loudspeaker, and to connect the two units firmly together. The connection must be such that the vibration of the loudspeaker does not loosen the connection.

In another application, it is sometimes convenient to clamp a dolly having a plurality of.casters to the bottom of the loudspeaker cabinet, so that the same may be readily wheeled about. It is also desirable to be able to remove the dolly readily, without having to lift the entire unit, or having to tip or tilt the unit far from its normal upright attitude.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a connector suitable for use either between two cabinets, or between a cabinet and an accompanying dolly assembly.

A more. specific object of the present invention is to provide a connector for connecting two members into a fixed relationship, which connector is capable of easy and quick connection and disconnection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a connector, in which all of the component parts of the connector are permanently secured to one or the other of the two connected members.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a connector, in which one of the connected members is adapted to overlie theother, and the upper member is adapted to be disconnected from the lower member and placed upon another surface without the need for removing any part of the connector apparatus, and without danger of scratching such surface.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically compensating for wear in the moving parts of the connector, to maintain a desired amount of clamping force regardless of wear.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dolly associated with an improved connector, whereby the dolly can be connected to the bottom of an article without the need for lifting the entire article, or tilting it far away from its normal upright attitude.

These and otherobjects of the present invention will become manifest'upon an examination of the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, partly exploded, view of a dolly incorporating the connector of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the dolly of FIG. 1 in connection with a cabinet or the like;

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FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in cross section, of the connector of the present invention in combination with two cabinets stacked one on top of the other.

In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a connector having a first member with a threaded aperture secured to a Wall of one article, and a second member, secured to a facing wall of another article, having a rotatably mounted threaded shaft, and hand manipulatable means for rotating the threaded shaft. The shaft mates with the threaded aperture, and, upon being rotated, connects and holds the two articles in a fixed relationship. A plurality of bumpers are provided to maintain a certain spacing between the two articles.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. This embodiment relates to a dolly having a pair of casters 10 and 12 mounted on a frame 14 by means of swiveling brackets 16 and 18, respectively. The casters and their swiveling brackets may be of any convenient construction known in the art, and are therefore not described in detail herein.

Four bumpers 20 are mounted on top of the frame 14 by means of screws, the heads of which are recessed in counterbores 22 in each of the bumpers 20. The screws are adapted to be received in threaded apertures in the frame 14. Two bumpers 20 are spaced apart at each end of the frame 14, so that the four bumpers form a rectangle. Near the center of the frame 14 is an aperture through which a threaded shaft 24 extends. A knurled wheel 26 is connected fast between an end of the shaft 24, below the frame 14, and a nut 28 is secured above the frame 14, to a portion of the shaft 24 spaced slightly from its upper end, so that the upper end of the shaft 24 protrudes above the nut 28. The nut 28 and the knurled wheel 26 are fixed to the shaft 24 by means of soldering, welding or gluing, and are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the plate 14 so that the entire assembly is freely rotatable within the aperture in the plate 14.

What has thus far been described is a. caster-connector assembly, which in use cooperates with an article which is to be supported on the caster assembly. A bracket 30 is secured to the bottom surface of the article, such as a cabinet or the like, by means of a plurality of screws 32. The bracket 30 is provided with a threaded aperture 34 which receives the upper end of the threaded shaft 24 when the dolly is to be placed in assembled relation with a cabinet or the like.

Referring to FIG. 2, the dolly is shown in association with a cabinet 35 having a bottom wall 36 and a side wall 38. The bumpers 20 cooperate with the bottom wall 36, to maintain a fixed distance between the surface of the bottom wall 36 and the frame 14. This distance is such as to permit the threaded shaft 24 to be threaded securely into the threaded aperture 34 in the bracket 30, which is mounted on the cabinet 35. Threading of the shaft 24 into the aperture 34 is accomplished by manually rotating the knurled wheel 26. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the bracket 30 is placed on the bottom wall 36 relative to the side wall 38 so that the knurled wheel 26 extends outwardly beyond the plane of a wall 38, so as to permit easy access to the knurled wheel 26. N

The dimensions of the various parts are such that when the connector is in engaged condition, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the top of the threaded shaft 24 does not reach the end of the threaded aperture 34. Thus any wear in the bumpers 20 is compensated for by simply screwing in the threaded shaft 24 further.

3 The dolly may thus be quickly and easily assembled with the cabinet 35 simply by locating the dolly under the cabinet 35 with the threaded shaft 24 aligned with the threaded aperture 34. Simple turning of the knurled wheel 26 by hand then brings the parts in securely clamped relationship to each other.

The knurled wheel 26 and the nut 28 are spaced on the shaft 24 so that a slight gap exists between the upper surface of the wheel 26 and the bottom surface of the frame 14, as illustrated in FIG. 3. This gap is less than the thickness of the bracket 30, so that the dolly unit, as a whole, can be held upwardly against the bottom surface 36 of the unit 34 until the threaded shaft 22 is in alignment with the threaded aperture 34. Thus, it is unnecessary to maintain the knurled wheel 26 in an upward position relative to the frame 14, as well as maintaining the bumpers in firm contact with the surface 36, thus facilitating the connection of the dolly to the unit 34.

It will be appreciated that the dolly of FIGS. 1 to 3 is most conveniently used in pairs, one of the units being associated with one side of the article 35 as illustrated in FIG. 3 and a second similar dolly unit associated with the other side of the article 35. In securing each dolly to the article 35, it is only necessary to lift one side of the article 35 sufiiciently to slip the dolly thereunder, and secure it to the bracket by rotating the knurled wheel 26 as described above. When a dolly has been installed on one side, the other dolly may be installed in line fashion on the other side of the article. Thus, it is never necessary to lift the entire weight of the article, nor is it necessary to tip the article from its normal upright position, except to the extent required to slip the dolly under one side thereof.

In FIG. 4, a vertical cross section of a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in which the connector of the present invention is arranged to hold a lower cabinet 40 to an upper cabinet 42. The upper cabinet 42 is provided With four bumpers 44 (two of which are shown in FIG. 4) which are secured to the lower wall 46 of the upper cabinet 42 by means of bolts 48 and nuts 50. The bolts 48 pass through apertures provided in the wall 46, and the heads of the bolts 48 are disposed in recesses within the bumpers 44.

At opposite sides of the assembly, two separate connectors 51 and 53 are disposed, so that the two cabinets 40 and 42 are connected together at each side. The two connectors are identical and so only one need be described. The connector 53 includes a threaded shaft 52 disposed in an aperture 54 of the bottom wall 46 of the upper cabinet 42. A nut 56 is secured fast to the upper end of the shaft 52 and a knurled wheel 58 is secured to the shaft 52 below the wall 46. A bracket 60 is secured to the top wall 62 of the lower cabinet 40 by screws or the like (not shown) and is provided with a threaded aperture adapted to accept the lower end of the threaded shaft 52. In clamped position, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the lower end of the shaft 52 does not quite reach the surface of the upper wall 62, but a gap 64 exists between the end of the shaft 52 and the upper surface of the wall 62. As the bumpers 44 wear during the lift of the apparatus involved, the shaft 52 can be turned further into the bracket 60, so as to automatically compensate for the wear.

The upper cabinet 42 is disposed directly above the lower cabinet 40, with a side wall 66 of the upper cabinet 42 being coplanar with the corresponding side wall 68 of the lower cabinet 40. The aperture 54 within the wall 46 of the upper cabinet is spaced from the side wall 66 so that a portion of the rim of the knurled wheel 58 extends outwardly beyond the walls 66 and 68, to permit easy access for connecting and disconnecting the clamp. The bracket 60 is mounted on the wall 62 of the cabinet 40 so that its aperture is in alignment with the shaft 52.

' In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the four bumpers 44 are relatively widely spaced to form a stable support for the upper cabinet 42. The lower ends of the bumpers 44 extend beyond the lower ends of the shafts 52, which brings about a two-fold advantage. First, a gap 64 is provided which compensates for any wear occurring in the bumpers 44. Secondly, the cabinet 42 may be disconnected from the cabinet 40 and placed on any other fiat surface, and the relatively hard ends of the surface of bottom wall 46 will not scratch or mar the surface because only the bumpers 44 will contact the surface. In order to minimize the chance of scratching the surface with the shaft 52, the bumpers 44 may be oriented so that the shaft 52 is disposed on a line between two of the bumpers at each side of the cabinet 42.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, there is a gap provided between the bottom surface of the lower wall 56 of the cabinet 42 and the upper surface of the knurled wheel 58. This gap is preferably of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the bracket 60, so that the cabinet 42 is firmly supported on the four bumpers 44 when first placed on the lower cabinet 40, and the threaded shaft 52, if not in perfect engagement with the apertures of the bracket 60, may rise relative to the bottom wall 46, thus making it easier to adjust the position of the upper cabinet 42 until the shaft 52 is in alignment with the threaded aperture in the bracket 60. In this respect, the embodiment of FIG. 4 is slightly different from that illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3.

By the foregoing, the present invention has been described in such full and precise terms as to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same without departing from the essential features of novelty thereof which are intended to be defined and secured by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A connector for releasably holding two articles in a fixed, supporting relationship relative to each other, comprising .a receptacle plate secured to a first wall of a first article, said receptacle plate having a threaded aperture therein, a threaded shaft rotatable in an aperture in a second wall of a second article and aligned with said threaded aperture for entering said threaded aperture, first holding means secured to said shaft on one side of said second wall, and second holding means secured to said shaft on the other side of said second wall, said first and second holding means holding said shaft within said aperture, one of said holding means having the form of a round flat disk, whereby said shaft may be rotated by manually rotating said disk.

2. The connector according to claim 1, including a plurality of resilient bumpers secured to one of said Walls for maintaining a predetermined space between said walls.

I The connector according to claim 2, wherein said bumpers are secured to said second wall.

4. The clamp according to claim 3, wherein said second wall is the bottom wall of said second article and said first wall is the top wall of said first article, and said bumpers extend downwardly from said second wall for a distance exceeding the distance between said second wall and the lower end of said shaft.

5. The connector according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said articles has a generally vertical side wall, and said disk has a diameter sufiiciently large in relation to the spacing of said apertures from said side wall so that a portion of the periphery of said disk extends beyond said side wall.

6. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said second article comprises a platform, and including a plurality of casters mounted on said platform.

7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein said platform comprises a rigid frame having a pair of casters mounted thereon for swiveling movement relative to said frame, and a plurality of resilient bumpers mounted on the upper surface of said plate for engaging said first wall and holding said frame in a fixed relation with said first wall.

8. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the holding means on the opposite side of said second wall from said first wall engages said second wall before said shaft can be threaded into said threaded aperture for the full depth thereof, thereby forming a space adjacent the end of said shaft within said threaded aperture.

9. The clamp according to claim 2 wherein said receptacle plate is mounted on the surface of said first wall which faces said second wall, and wherein said threaded shaft protrudes from said second wall toward said first wall by less than said predetermined space.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Von Der Lin et a1.

Schick et a1.

Tideman l619 Carbary.

Mooney 248-187 Iespersen 280-792 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CONNECTOR FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING TWO ARTICLES IN A FIXED, SUPPORTING RELATIONSHIP RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE PLATE SECURED TO A FIRST WALL OF A FIRST ARTICLE, SAID RECEPTACLE PLATE HAVING A THREADED APERTURE THEREIN, A THREADED SHAFT ROTATABLE IN AN APERTURE IN A SECOND WALL OF A SECOND ARTICLE AND ALIGNED WITH SAID THREADED APERTURE FOR ENTERING SAID THREADED APERTURE, FIRST HOLDING MEANS SECURED TO SAID SHAFT ON ONE SIDE OF SAID SECOND WALL, AND SECOND HOLDING MEANS SECURED TO SAID SHAFT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID SECOND WALL, SAID FIRST AND SECOND HOLDING MEANS HOLDING SAID SHAFT WITHIN SAID APERTURE, ONE OF SAID HOLDING MEANS HAVING THE FORM OF A ROUND FLAT DISK, WHEREBY SAID SHAFT MAY BE ROTATED BY MANUALLY ROTATING SAID DISK. 